How to take care of swords

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Manual of How to handle and Take Care of
Swords

Manual of How to handle and Take Care of
Swords_1(an extraction from Nippon Bijutsu
Token
Hozon Kyokai, The Japanese Sword Museum)

Traditionally the Japanese sword has been
a most important treasure of the Japanese
people. We should do what we can preserve
it in order to pay respect to our anscestors
who crreated such a great form of art.
Swords
must be treated with utmost precaution
so
as not to injure the handler. Precautions
to protect them from scratches and
rust are
also necessary.

1. Precautions to be taken in handling the
Nipponto
(1) All swords, whether encased in plain
wooden scabbards and hilts(Shirasaya) or
formal mountings(Koshirae), need to be kept
in their swordbags. The head of the scabbard(Kojiri)
must go into the bag first to avoid the possibility
an acciddental fall.
(2) To carry a sword, the scabbard(Saya)
must be held with one's right hand. The hilt(Tsuka)
must be put up and the blade must hang down.
This measure will prevent dangerous acceidents.
(3) Whenever one draws a mounted sword
out
of its bag or scabbard, make sure the
position
of the hilt does not go lower then
the scabbard.
(4) The registration card should be
either
be tied to the scabbard or sewed onto
the
swordbag. The sword owner in Japan
has a
legal obligation to keep a sword and
its
registlation card together.

3. Method of maintenance
The major purpose of swordcare is to
make
sure the steel surface does not oxidize
or
rust. Therefore, it is necessary to
throughly
remove the stale oil and replace it
entirely
with new oil. The following describes
the
tools used and the order of operations
of
swordcare.
(A) Tools
1. Mekugi-nuki: A tool to remove the
bamboo
peg(Mekugi) holding the blade in the
hilt;
usually made of brass or bamboo.
2. Uchiko: The most finely ground whetstone
powder (30-35gram) for cleaning the
blade
surface. First, wrapped in Japanese
hand-made
paper called Yoshino-gami, then rewrapped
by cotton or silk cloth, it comes through
the wrapping materials when patted
on the
blade surface.
3. Nuguigami: High quality thick Japanese
paper must be throughly wrinkled to
soften
and remove coarse and dusty elements
for
wiping the blade surface. There are
tow reasons
for the wiping function; one for preliminary
removal of old oil and the other for
removal
of the powder. When using flannel,
the fabric
must be washed, destarched in water,
then
dried.
4. Abura: A rust-preventive oil called
Choji
or clover oil.
5. Abura-nuguishi: Paper used to spread
oil
over the blade surface. A piece of
wiping
paper or flannel will do.
6. Others: A wooden hammer and benzene,
if
necessary.

Tools for swordcare

2. How to draw a sword out of the scabbard
and put it back
(1) Whether drawing out a Tachi or
Katana,
one must hold the cutting edge up and
grasp
the scabbard from underneath in the
left
hand in a forward holding position.
Then,
hold the hilt from above with the right
hand.
Since the scabbard is rather tight
fit at
the opening where the collar(Habaki)
is fit(Koikuchi),
the initial pull must be very carefully
made
so that only the collar's length gets
drawn
out. Giving a sudden powerful pull
may not
only impair the opening of the scabbard
but
also result in an uncontrollable jerk
leading
to injury. Holding the blade still,
pull
it entirely out of the scabbard very
slowly
making certain the cutting edge never
faces
down or sideways.
(2)When a blade is placed back in the
scabbard,its
case must be held by the left hand
and the
hilt by the right hand as in the pulling-out
process. The tip of the sharp edge
facing
up must first rest gently the opening
of
the scabbard. Again, holding the blade
still,
slide the blade along the dich ino
the scabbard.
When the collar reaches the opening
of the
case, a firm push is necessary to ensure
steady settlement. As before, the cutting
edge must not face down or sideways.